Though it may not be a Christmas song, this song from Ringo Starr feels appropriate for the season. Ringo sings for peace and hope in this song and he’s brought along an impressive supporting cast to help him make his case. Among those featured in the song and the video: Paul McCartney & Joe Walsh, Corinne Bailey Rae, Eric Burton, Sheryl Crow, FINNEAS, Dave Grohl, Ben Harper, Lenny Kravitz, Jenny Lewis, Steve Lukather, Chris Stapleton, and Yola.
Enjoy!
For this Father’s Day, I’m dedicating today’s song of the day to my father. I miss you, Dad.
He was a hard-headed man
He was brutally handsome, and she was terminally pretty
She held him up, and he held her for ransom in the heart
of the cold, cold city
He had a nasty reputation as a cruel dude
They said he was ruthless, they said he was crude
They had one thing in common, they were good in bed
She’d say, ‘Faster, faster. The lights are turnin’ red.”
Life in the fast lane
Surely make you lose your mind, mm
Are you with me so far?
Eager for action and hot for the game
The coming attraction, the drop of a name
They knew all the right people, they took
all the right pills
They threw outrageous parties, they paid heavenly bills
There were lines on the mirror, lines on her face
She pretended not to notice, she was caught up
in the race
Out every evening, until it was light
He was too tired to make it, she was too tired
to fight about it
Life in the fast lane
Surely make you lose your mind
Life in the fast lane, everything all the time
Life in the fast lane, uh huh
Blowin’ and burnin’, blinded by thirst
They didn’t see the stop sign,
took a turn for the worse
She said, “Listen, baby. You can hear the engine
ring. We’ve been up and down this highway;
haven’t seen a goddam thing.”
He said, “Call the doctor. I think I’m gonna crash.”
“The doctor say he’s comin’, but you gotta pay him cash.”
They went rushin’ down that freeway,
messed around and got lost
They didn’t know they were just dyin’ to get off
And it was life in the fast lane
Life in the fast lane
Songwriters: Joseph Fidler Walsh / Glenn Lewis Frey / Donald Hugh Henley
Though it may not be a Christmas song, the latest single from Ringo Starr feels appropriate for the season. Ringo sings for peace and hope in this song and he’s brought along an impressive supporting cast to help him make his case. Among those featured in the song and the video: Paul McCartney & Joe Walsh, Corinne Bailey Rae, Eric Burton, Sheryl Crow, FINNEAS, Dave Grohl, Ben Harper, Lenny Kravitz, Jenny Lewis, Steve Lukather, Chris Stapleton, and Yola.
I searched but I could not find a credited director for this video.
Enjoy!
Today’s music video of the day is Richard Marx’s Don’t Mean Nothin’. This video was directed by Dominic Sena, who later directed films like Kalifornia, Gone in 60 Seconds, and Swordfish. Let’s break it down and see if this video really don’t mean nothin’.
0:03 — I’m not sure but I think we may be in Hollywood.
0:04 — These scenes of Los Angeles street life will be familiar to anyone who has ever seen a movie about a small town girl moving to the big city to pursue her dreams.
0:18 — Welcome to Shangri-La!
0:26 — Cynthia Rhodes plays the small town girl. You may recognize her from Flashdance, Staying Alive, and Dirty Dancing. At the time this video was shot, she was dating Richard Marx. She would marry him a year later. They divorced in 2014.
0:38 — The sleazy apartment manager is played by the one and only G.W. Bailey. Bailey has been in a ton of television shows and movies. If you don’t know him from M*A*S*H, you probably know him from the Police Academy films.
0:48 — Cynthia knows what ol’ G.W. was doing back there.
0:55 — Richard Marx’s father was in advertising and Richard Marx started his singing career when he was five years old and he performed a jingle that his father had written. When Marx was 17, he moved to Los Angeles. This song was based on his experiences.
1:14 — Cynthia’s barely been in Hollywood for a week and she’s already got an audition! That’s better that most small town girls do in the big city.
1:38 — Another great moment from G.W. Bailey.
1:53 — Cynthia is shocked! to discover what goes on in Hollywood.
2:09 — Richard says, “Drink up and enjoy the show!” Cynthia is not amused.
2:24 — More Hollywood stock footage.
2:44 — That’s Joe Walsh of the Eagles on guitar.
2:59 — Proof that this video was made in 1988: Richard hands over a cassette of his music.
3:24 — Disgusted to see that Cynthia’s become either a maid or a waitress, Richard stops the music and throws away his future.
3:27 — There’s a lot of hockey hair in this video.
3:38 — Ol’ G.W.’s in trouble now.
3:42 — Are they taking pictures of G.W. getting beaten up? Or does G.W. own a strobe light?
4:08 — Cynthia finally feels comfortable enough to wear an ugly sweater in L.A. and Richard has switched to decaf.
4:20 — A new small town girl arrives. Cynthia tells her where she can find Ol’ G.W.
4:24 — Cynthia and Richard shares a smile and a private laugh as the new girl naively plunges into the moral abyss that is Hollywood.
4:32 — Don’t worry. It don’t mean nothin’ at all.
Time for the latest “Song of the Day” and this one has grown on me with each passing year: “Hotel California” by The Eagles. It also continues an impromptu mini-series of songs with some of the greatest guitar solos. The previous entry, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird”, gave us an extended triple guitar solo that never seems to end.
I must admit that the group was never a favorite of mine growing up. I rarely listened to them and when they came on the radio I used to change the station. But as the years passed I began to give them more of a chance. I think part of it comes from the fact that this band is one of my Dad’s favorites. So, I gave them a chance in my advancing years. I guess with age does come wisdom since I began to really dig the band that I’ve dismissed as typical “adult contemporary” music in my youth. This just goes to show that the adage that sometimes “youth is wasted on the young” has some truth to it. My Dad’s probably looking down at me right now wherever he is and giving me that smirking smile that says “I told you so.”
“Hotel California” is my favorite of all the songs The Eagles have ever made. It’s not just catchy but the song also plays out like some sort of tale being sung by bards of old. Well, bards of old until we get to the dueling guitar solos by Don Felder and Joe Walsh which forms the climactic finish to the song. Guitar solos that I must say earns its place in rock pantheon as one of the best. That’s fact and not hyperbole.
FACT.
Another reason why this song of The Eagles is a favorite of mine is just the sense of the ominous just below the surface of the song. The lyrics does play out like a story, but a story tinged with a sense of malice and just a hint of the supernatural. It’s no wonder some of the more religious-minded fans of the song consider “Hotel California” as a song that details a time spent inside the Anton LeVay purchased San Francisco hotel called Hotel California which was converted into what would become the Church of Satan.
Lastly, I just plain love this song for the fact it paints my home state of California as something more than just a place to live and work in, but a place half in and out of reality. Maybe the song will convince Lisa Marie that California isn’t that bad of a state to be in.
Hotel California
On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself,
‘this could be heaven or this could be hell’
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say…
Welcome to the hotel california
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the hotel california
Any time of year, you can find it here
Her mind is tiffany-twisted, she got the mercedes bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget
So I called up the captain,
‘please bring me my wine’
He said, ‘we haven’t had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine’
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say…
Welcome to the hotel california
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
They livin’ it up at the hotel california
What a nice surprise, bring your alibis
Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said ‘we are all just prisoners here, of our own device’
And in the master’s chambers,
They gathered for the feast
The stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can’t kill the beast
Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
‘relax,’ said the night man,
We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
But you can never leave!
(guitar solos)
Great Guitar Solos Series
Through the Shattered Lens 